


Opportunity

by AniMonster



Category: CallMeKota, Let's Players - Fandom, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: G/T, Gen, Giant-Tiny, space, space travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-29 09:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 11,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17805299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniMonster/pseuds/AniMonster
Summary: Jack and Kota hadn't really expected anything new to happen that day, but when a fireball lands into your backyard, what else can you do but investigate? What they thought would be a neat object from space turned into a whole new experience neither of them had been expecting.The Opportunity was a small vessel. A four man crew, set to explore whatever they could find in deep space. Her members - Ani, Mark, Tom, and Amy - thought they'd see the stars, then return home. Instead, they found the adventure of a lifetime...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This story features a lot of G/t themes. If you are curious about the exact sizes of everyone, check out this site: https://www.mrinitialman.com/OddsEnds/Sizes/compsizes.xhtml and enter in either of the following codes.
> 
> For the heights from the Giant Perspective: Kota|male|185.4_Jack|male|177.8_Tom|male|18.3_Mark|male|17.8_Amy|female|16.3_Ani|female|16.2
> 
> For the heights from the Tiny Perspective: Kota|male|1854.2_Jack|male|1778.0_Tom|male|182.9_Mark|male|177.8_Amy|female|162.6_Ani|female|160.0

“Told you it would come in handy.”

Ani let out a huff, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face at her husband's joking.

“Right, because I'm sure you fully intended to use this camera for mechanical diagnostics and not to record whatever planet we find. Ah! There it is.” She peered at the screen, the wires on the other side sparking a little. “Shit, I think that's been chewed.”

Her husband, Tom, peered down the hole in the wall. “Looks like it's over by the med cabinet.”

“Tape?”

“Nah, still got some from the coffee machine.”

She gave a firm nod, then headed up to bridge.

The _Opportunity_ was a small vessel. A four man crew, set to explore whatever they could find in deep space. The trip was meant to take a year, if unsuccessful. But she was sure Mark had chosen to name their ship after the Mars Rover for a reason. _Oppy_ had turned 90 days into 15 years. Maybe they would turn this year into the new life NASA had hoped for.

They had already made the wormhole jump, as close as they dared to the next arm of the Milky Way. The four of them were about to hit up hibernation until they got to the next star system, which meant checking every inch of the ship before going under.

Mark was still at the helm, staring wide eyed through the glass.

“It's so cool,” he muttered, once Ani opened the door. “God, we haven't even left our home galaxy and _look_ at it.”

Ani slipped into the co-pilot seat – the one Tom usually took – and let out a sigh as a wave of exhaustion hit her.

“It's certainly calming. Probably helps knowing the ship is ready for low power, too.”

Mark glanced over to her with a grin. “So, found the lighting problem, then?”

She felt her nose twitch in annoyance, “We might have rats. But the fact we only just now noticed them, and none of our food stores were hit, makes me think we shouldn't have to worry about them. At the very least, when the gravity and main oxygen get shut off, we should be okay.”

Mark began flipping switches. “That's good. Auto-pilot should be ready to go.”

Ani lazily hit a button on the intercom nearby, “Everything good in the medbay, Amy?”

After a moment, a bit of a staticy reply sounded. “Yup. Reserve oxygen and nutrient drips are good to go. Just waitin' on all of you.”

She looked over to Mark. “Shall we?”

Mark gave her a toothy grin, “We shall!”

* * *

 

Ani was told you could dream while in hibernation. Given how often she dreamed of screwed up things otherwise, she thought the blaring sirens were just part of her sleep.

Her hibernation pod overturned her onto the floor. She couldn't feel her legs, and her head swam. Her vision was blurry as she tried to understand what the ship was yelling. She managed to find the button to dispense the shot of Tarn-X, stabbing it into her thigh. Her stomach swam as the counter agent cleared her thoughts and mind. She scrambled to the nearby computer. Before her brain could comprehend what she was staring at, the Tarn-X hit her stomach and she doubled over, heaving out what she could only assume was the remains of the hibernation anesthetic onto the floor. She coughed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to recover, desperate to see the alert.

**ERROR: 1068**

**ERROR: 248**

**WARNING: PROXIMITY ALERT**

 

_Navigation Offline. Damage to Main Engine._

The words flashed at her. The auto-pilot was off, but the ship was still moving. All systems had turned back on. She slammed the emergency release, the air of the pods behind her hissing as the other three were released. One, two, three shots of Tarn-X. One, Mark. Two, Tom, Three

The ship jerked.

She was sent careening into Amy's pod, the groans and panicked yelling from the boys behind her. She heard the syringe shatter as it slammed into the wall.

“Navigation out, stations!” she yelled, trying to be heard over the sirens. Tom had to turn them off, and she was focused on trying to get the last shot of Tarn-X out of Amy's emergency kit. The men scrambled against the chaos, both stopping to leave their own mess of sickness against the wall, the floor.

Ani managed to get the last drop of Tarn-X into Amy's system before being thrown against the wall. The static of the intercom went live.

“A fucking planet! I can't--”

Mark's panicked voice only made her heart pound faster. She helped Amy out of the pod as the woman started to comprehend her surroundings. Amy gave Ani a quick once over to make sure the Tarn-X had worked, then grabbed the door frame to the medbay and disappeared. Ani grabbed onto the computer console and brought up the camera feed.

Just as Mark said, there was a planet. What he hadn't mentioned was how rapidly it approached, just before the flames of entry took out the camera.

“Brace for impact!”

She grabbed a nearby pod, heaving herself in, trying to force herself still with her own might.

Ani slammed into the glass door, and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

“Fricking--!” Kota let out an agitated grunt, side eyeing his roommate. Jack offered back a shit eating grin. “You've been recording it, haven't you?”

“Well, not this one, but yeah,” came the accented reply. “Guess the extra hours really helped!”

The two watched the victory screen of their game for a moment, Kota's character clapping sadly at their defeat. Shortly after, a robotic animal came bouncing into the room, up onto Kota's lap. He let out a laugh and scratched the robot's synthetic fur. “Thanks, Fidget, but I'm just gaming.”

Jack stood and stretched, “Fuckin' Christ, how long we been at this?”

“Considering we started playing right after I finished editing...?” Kota looked at the clock on the wall. “Five hours.”

Jack stopped to consider that for a moment. Kota could already see his decision.

“Pizza?”

“We probably should have ordered it an hour ago.”

“Aw, c'mon, they know it's game night for us!”

Kota picked up Fidget and moved the synthetic panda to his shoulders. He stood, his legs yelling that he should have gotten up sooner. “You get away with way too much, dude.”

“Excuse you, I give the  _ best _ tips,” Jack responded in mock offense, before he disappeared into the kitchen. Kota shook his head and headed outside. The fresh air was a welcome relief from the stuffy recording room he had decided to hole himself up in all day. As much as he loved his job, sometimes he needed to remember to take a break for the simple things.

Fidget's body rumbled in the feeling of appreciation. He scratched it's head again. “You and Sam have a good day?”

It chirped affirmative.

“Yeah, us too. Finally got to try out that new Team Salvato horror game everyone was yelling at me about. Always a sucker for good ol' psychological horror.”

He took in a deep breath and let out a happy sigh. He stared at the stars, happy him and Jack had gotten away from the city lights to actually see the damn things. There were so many lights, usually, that they were all blocked out. Save for the super bright ones. That one in particular looked really good tonight.

Kota furrowed his brow. There was something weird about the particular star that had caught his interest. It was glowing... red? He had never seen one glow red before.

It also was getting rapidly bigger. Fidget must have seen it too, as his robotic companion let out a concerned, confused whir.

His eyes widened at the realization that it wasn't a star, but something falling out of the sky. On fire. He yelled in surprise when it sent a small wave out from the pond nearby. Kota's spirit soared. Did a meteor just crash land in their backyard!? He'd heard of things happening before but it was so rare! He ran out to the pond, his excitement turning to confused wonder when he realized something.

The water was steaming.

“Fidget, lights, please.”

His companion blinked, its flashlight eyes lighting up the pond. He stared at the giant hunk of something in the pond. He knew one thing, though. It certainly wasn't a meteor.


	3. Chapter 3

The emergency lights finally came on. When they did, Ani got up and checked the computer. Backup systems only. Shit.

“Everyone okay?”

The small ship echoed with Mark's yell. She joined the other two in affirmation.

“Medbay check,” Amy called. “That was not a smooth landing.”

Ani crawled her way over, the lights of the medbay the only ones that would be at full power under backup systems. She was the first to make it, being the closest, and Amy ran through the usual questions.

“Mild concussion,” she concluded. “Hopefully that means the boys are okay.”

“I was the only one in a room without straps,” Ani agreed. Tom slumped in next. A few bumps and bruises, but nothing serious. Mark looked a little panicked.

“W-Window?” he asked. Ani complied and got the system to open the nearby shutter. They had all closed when the ship had gone into emergency mode.

Outside the window was water and sand.

Ani's heart skipped a beat. No wonder Mark had been so frazzled.

“Did we crash land in an ocean?”

“I fucking hope not,” Mark admitted. Amy finished wrapping the bleeding cut on his head and the rest of the crew joined Ani at the window.

“We have scuba gear,” Tom said quietly. “Though I didn't think we'd actually need to--”

They all fell back in varied screams as something appeared over the window. Ani stared transfixed at what she couldn't comprehend. If she had been insane, she'd have called them fingers, simply larger then what any had seen before. They disappeared from view as Amy hit the shutter again, and the entire ship rocked. They were sent sprawling across the floor. Tom grabbed Ani as she slid, his other hand firmly on the leg of the bolted down medbed. Amy and Mark clung to the other side.

“What the hell is going on!?”

“I wish I fucking knew!”

Tom hauled her up to the leg, and all four of them could only cling on for dear life as their ship was tossed about by some unknown force. The ship jerked, then stopped. They all waited, breath held.

“Hey, Jack!”

Ani curled in on herself, covering her ears against the noise.

“Wanna help me move this thing into the house?”

Her heart pounded. Had that actually been a hand? What the hell was going on? It sounded like whatever was talking was speaking English, but it was so  _ loud _ .

She looked at everyone else, who similarly had their ears covered. After a moment, she tried to stand.

“The fuck is this thing?”

She froze at the new voice. It sounded accented, like someone from Ireland back home.

“I don't know,” the first voice responded. “It just fell outta the sky into the pond.”

Ani looked over at the others. She saw Mark mouth in disbelief,  _ Pond!? _

“Here, grab that end. It's really frickin' heavy.”

The ship rocked a little, and Ani collapsed back to the floor, clinging to the leg of the medbed. The entire ship began to rise unsteadily.

“Fuck, ya weren't kiddin'!”

“Fidget, door!”

The crew waited in terrified silence as whatever carried their vessel into the unknown. After what felt like eternity, the ship was set heavily down on a solid surface and stopped.

“Well now what?” asked the accented voice after a moment's silence.

“Huh. Looks like there was writing here,” remarked the first voice. “Pretty banged up though.”

As the conversation beyond their walls continued, Ani made her way to the computer, not daring to move faster than a slow tiptoe, for fear of giving them away. She quickly typed in her override code, cutting off the lights to the ship, save for the emergency lights of the medbay. Once the silence after confirmed whatever was outside hadn't noticed, she made her way out towards the bridge.

“Ani!” Tom hissed, his own voice barely above a whisper.

“Protocol,” she responded, hoping the fear in her chest didn't make her voice waver. “I'm suppose to do first contact.”

“I should at least go with you.”

She shook her head, “If something happens, it'd be easier for you three to just rescue me over two and two.”

“I hate to say it,” Mark muttered, “but she has a point.”

“Just be careful!” Amy concluded.

Ani nodded, then slipped out of the medbay. The bridge was pretty straight forward, even without the emergency lights on. Once there, she sat down in her husband's chair, letting the familiar scent of oil and fuel he had given it calm her nerves. She started to type in the override to the front shutter.

She yelped in pain as an ear piercing chime rang out beyond her ceramic den. The accented voice spat a curse and footsteps echoed outside, getting fainter but not disappearing completely. She swallowed the lump in her throat and hit the override.

Slowly, the shutter rose. She winced at the scratching noise, the plating having been dented in the crash, but it still worked. The light beyond nearly blinded her, and she had to shield her eyes to let them adjust. She could already feel herself being watched, and shaking, she lowered her arm.

Ani stared straight into a large pair of curious, confused, bright blue eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Kota watched Jack with a bemused smirk as his roommate ran to get the pizza. His expression shifted when he heard a slight grinding noise from below him and looked down at the object they had carried in. The front was moving. Curiosity peaked, he squatted down to watch. It surprised him to discover that there was glass beneath it, but the way it moved, he figured a similar mechanism must have been what pinched him earlier, albeit moving in the other direction.

His heart skipped a beat at the sight beyond the glass.

A small person, not even 20 centimeters tall, stood on the other side. A woman, best he could tell, with dark hair and tan skin, in what he could only assume was a uniform. And she was moving.

Her arm lowered away from her face, and a pair of terrified, dark eyes stared at him. He glanced, ever so briefly, at the room she occupied within the object, before looking back to her. Her mouth was left agape, and honestly, Kota wasn't sure he could blame her.

“Fuckin' finally!”

Kota jolted out of his trance, eyes snapping to Jack as his roommate burst back into the room with pizza box in hand. His baffled, stunned look gave Jack pause.

“You okay, dude?”

Kota glanced back down at what he now assumed to be a vehicle of some kind. The window was closing again, and he saw the woman for a brief moment, locking eyes with him one final time before she disappeared behind the shutter.

“Yeah, the thing just. Uh. Moved. I think?”

_ Yup, great excuse, he'll believe that. _

Jack's face told Kota he Very Much Didn't. But the issue was left there, as there was pizza to be had. They both ate quietly, Kota constantly looking back at the weird vehicle.

“Yer gunna be up all night with that thing, huh?” Jack teased.

“Possibly,” he replied, a little more to the being in the contraption then Jack. He wasn't even sure she would understand him, though whatever was written on the side of the vehicle was at least somewhat similar to their language. He could make out 'O-P-P-O'. Not that that meant any words he said would make sense, but it was some common ground.

“Well, don't forget to sleep, duder.”

Almost on instinct, Kota grinned with a “Isn't sleep for the weak?”

“FOR THE WEAK!” Jack yelled back before taking a bite out of his pizza. Kota winced a little, hoping that hadn't caught the girl off guard. Though, given that Jack caught everyone new off guard, he decided to just hope she wasn't deaf.

They continued to eat in relative silence after that. Once Jack had his fill and Kota was on his last piece, Jack took the box to the fridge and retreated to his room. Kota finished his piece and wiped down his mouth and hands before continuing his investigation of the weird vehicle. Had that girl actually come from space? Scientists had assumed space travel was impossible when they struggled to get satellites into the air. Sion space travel had always been out of the question.

But here it was, something with a tiny person inside he had literally seen fall from the atmosphere.

He briefly considered trying to open the sliding mechanism himself, but shook away the thought to offer a quiet, “Hello?” After a brief pause, he continued. “I don't know if you can understand me, but if you can, I know you must be terrified. You're safe here. Promise.”

He waited, unsure of what he could do if she didn't understand him. Would he just have to wait? Should he walk away? He was terrified of what might happen if she tried to wander the house on her own.

Thankfully, he didn't have to consider that question long. He heard a hiss from the vehicle and saw a small rectangle – a door? - pop up.

It slid open, and the small woman stepped out.


	5. Chapter 5

Ani waited as Mark and Tom checked the planet's condition.

“The water from earlier is... standard Hydrogen Dioxide. The air is just Dioxide,” Tom noted.

“The gravity's heavier though.” Mark rubbed his face, glasses pushed into his hair. “But logic states  _ we _ should be bigger in that case…”

Ani hesitated, “How much heavier?”

“It’s 1.5Gs. Gunna to be hard to take off, if we can even manage to find supplies to fix  _ Oppy _ up.”

“Yer gunna be up all night with that thing, huh?”

They all froze at the voice beyond the walls. At the very least, Ani assured herself, she was sure the two out there hadn't heard anything the four within had said.

“Possibly,” came the reply. Ani's heart leaped into her throat, the thought of being watched all night not a fun one.

“Well, don't forget to sleep, duder.”

“Isn't sleep for the weak?”

“FOR THE WEAK!”

The entire interior of their ship shook at the sound, all four nearly falling to the ground as they covered their ears. Ani bit back the tears as her ears rang. As it finally stopped, she looked at everyone else. Mark and Amy were still disoriented, while Tom looked pissed.

“Fucking hell, we're going to go deaf before anything else.”

“Well. We aren't yet,” Ani sighed. “So conditions are at least survivable without pulling out the suits?”

Mark shook away his confusion then nodded. “I wouldn't suggest it though. We're gunna be pretty weak out there, never mind how long we’ve stayed in nearly 0-G.”

“Hello?”

The sound echoed around them, the first voice. The sound was tentative and quiet.

”I don't know if you can understand me, but if you can, I know you must be terrified. You're safe here. Promise.”

Ani's heart wrenched. She could see the doubt in the guys' eyes, though Amy seemed to agree with her own conclusion.

“We aren't going to get anywhere in here,” Ani stated.

“I'm at least standing nearby when you go out there,” Tom replied, already by her side. Ani nodded and the two headed out towards the entry hatch. She unlocked the hatch, letting the pressure equalize in the hiss that followed, then pushed open the door. Tom stayed in the dark as she stepped down, ready to pull her back in if something should happen.

The floor was wood. Sanded and polished, with a dark stain to make it look nice. She let herself stare at the large grain patterns, a distraction from the large eyes she could feel bearing down on her.

“Hi.”

The quiet, friendly voice finally made her look up. The boy stared back in wide eyed amazement.

“Hi,” she finally replied, trying to project her voice without shouting.

His eyes lit up at her response, and she hadn't considered he wouldn't have known until then that they spoke the same language. Somehow.

His excitement fled as his eyes darted to the ship for a moment. “Are you alright? I saw your... uh. Thing. Crash into our pond.”

Ani felt the color drain from her face. It really had been a pond. A pond, that had been enough to completely submerge their spacecraft. She wasn't sure she wanted this guy in front of her to back away, if only to keep from realizing how very tiny she probably was right now.

“Y-Yeah. We're-- I'm-- Fine. I'm fine. Just bumps and bruises.”

“We're? Wait, are there more of you!?”

_ Fuck _ .

She shied back, having not really gone much past the threshold of the ship. She fumbled with her words in a few mutters she knew wouldn't be heard, before nearly jumping out of her skin.

Tom's hand rest on her shoulder. Once her initial scare was done, the warmth from his hand made her relax. He always had a way of making her feel safe. And, in this case, simple confirmation she wasn't alone.

“Yeah,” she finally replied. “But, uh. Just me. For now.” She hesitated, then sighed and took a bold step forward, away from the ship. “Ani 'Monster' Johnson, Communications Expert for NASA Flight  _ Opportunity _ to the Milky Way's Perseus Arm.”

He looked taken aback by the sudden formality. After a moment's hesitation, he noted, “You can just call me Kota.”

She gave a small nod. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Kota. As per my job, I need to formally say we come with non-violent intentions, but, uh.”

This was a speech for creatures about her own height, not ones that towered several stories above her. Kota, however, seemed to be amused.

“So how would have violent intentions gone?”

She hesitated. In her head, she knew  _ exactly _ how violent intentions would have gone, but that wasn't something she wanted to get into.

“Poorly,” she decided.

“Well then.”

Ani stumbled back as Kota stood up, far taller then she had initially thought. She heard Tom let out a panicked noise behind her as she scrambled back a bit. The table she could only assume  _ Opportunity _ had been placed on came up to Kota's hips, and he still towered a good three stories above her. He hesitated at her reaction, quietly sitting back down with a small 'Sorry'.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

Kota rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I didn't-- Really think about that. Maybe I should have warned you I was gunna stand up.”

“I-- Please. I'm just. Gunna go back into--”

“Do you want some pizza?”

Ani stared at him in silence. Technically, all four of them had already eaten, but it had been tube food. The thought of an actually pizza sounded... well, quite frankly, amazing. She glanced back at Tom, hidden from Kota's view. He looked as ready for something besides tubes as she did.

“... Yes please.”


	6. Chapter 6

Barely the size of his hand.

Kota rolled that thought in his head. Like a small bird. That's how big she was. He hadn't really appreciated it until he had stood up. The look on her face had left a pit in his stomach.

He'd have to tell Jack. There's no way he'd be able to keep them a secret, even if he wanted to. The question was how.

He stared at the tiny cuts of pizza he made, unsure how many he needed. It was still somewhat warm, thankfully, and he took the small smattering over to the vehicle. Ani had closed it up again, so he lightly tapped the top.

She poked her head out from the door, eyes wide in excitement at the sight of the food.

“So. Uh. I will probably need to tell Jack about you guys, so he doesn't... Yell as much.”

She looked up at him.

“Do you trust him?”

“Whole heartedly,” he replied, no hesitation. Jack was energetic and loud, but the dude was the nicest person Kota had ever met.

“We can... leave the windows open, I guess. I need to discuss it with the others.

Kota nodded. He wasn't about to rush into it either. Probably let everyone sleep it off. “Hey, Fidget?”

The mechanical red panda bounced to life from its charging station, bounding over to its owner. Kota picked it up and set it on the table, far enough away from the vehicle that he hoped it didn't disturb it. Ani still stumbled back at the sight, though her expression looked more like wild curiosity then fear. He saw her mouth move, but her words were too quiet to hear.

“Keep an eye on this thing, okay? But don't disturb anyone inside!”

Fidget let out a whirring confirmation, tail doing one quick circle. It lay down, eyes trained on the vehicle as it did its initial scan of it.

“Is that a red panda!?”

Ani's excited shout made Kota the one to jump this time. He stared at her for a moment before laughing. “Well, not an actual one. Fidget's just a companion bot, but yeah. I got 'em in the shape of a red panda. Jack has one too, though Sam is usually charging after long recording sessions.”

She said something that Kota didn't catch, but he didn't bother asking about it. He gave Fidget a scritch behind the ear, then looked back at her. “I should probably get to sleep. Fidget'll make sure nothing happens to you guys tonight.”

Ani hesitated, then looked up at him. A bit of fear seemed to creep back into her expression.

“Thank you.”

When she closed the door behind her with pizza in hand, Kota finally stood up and wandered off to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Ani stared at the single light the crew had left on. Everyone else was asleep. Maybe not soundly, but asleep.

She already knew she wasn't going to be able to get there.

Tom snored behind her. A comforting sound in the strange world she found herself in. It was a sound she had always used to remind herself she wasn't alone.

But now, with that feeling intact, she got out of bed, careful not to make a sound. Tom had always been a heavy sleeper, but she hadn't been around Mark and Amy enough to know if they were.

As far as she was aware, however, she managed to make it out of the ship without anyone waking. She took one look at the huge, dark room beyond their ship, and collapsed into heaving sobs.

This wasn't what was suppose to happen.

They were supposed to float around the galaxy, maybe circle a few planets, maybe see more than intended, but then they were suppose to go home. Not be stuck on an alien planet ten times the size of their own. Try as she might to silence herself, she couldn't, choked sobs escaping with every breath. She had no idea what they were supposed to do, no idea if they would be able to get help. No idea if they could be kept secret from this world.

She wiped her eyes and nose, finally able to calm herself down. But before she could catch her breath, her mind finally realized something.

A shadow had fallen over everything.

She jolted, snapping her attention to whatever was behind her. A new figure towered over her, confused concern etched in his face. She scrambled back, eyes locked on him as she tried to figure out what to do. His flicked between her and something else, the concern morphing to worry as he let out a small “W-Wait!”

Too late, she realized, her hand pushing her past the edge of the table. Her balance shifted, and she lost control, toppling over the side.

She fell, a weight on her far greater than what she had thought before. Like something pushed her down in her fall.

_ The gravity’s heavier… 1.5Gs. _

She didn't know how long it would take for her to hit the ground, and she simply braced herself for the end.

A shocked gasp escaped her when something snatched her out of the air. Her mind scrambled to find meaning, but her entire body was jerked to the side, pressed against something soft. The heat of her predicament threatened to overwhelm her, and her insides dropped as she started to rapidly rise.

“Fuckin' hell, that was close. I gotcha.”

Her surroundings rumbled with the words. Her heart pounded in her throat, the surface she had been pressed against rising and falling slowly. The world past her current position finally stopped moving, only for – what she assumed to be – the hand on her back to tilt, letting her slump back against the palm. She stared up at the worried face, shaken to her core. At this point, though, it wasn't even the giant towering above her. It was how clumsy she had been, how close to just--

She made the mistake of looking back. Looking down. Her chest tightened. She scrambled away from the edge, only to hear the giant panic for a moment, the back of his other hand's fingers blocking her path forward. She clung to his knuckles, unable to focus on anything but the drop just inches away from her.

She heard her savior mutter a small curse, and he brought his hand over to the table. She clambered off, running to the ship, as far from the edge of the table as she could. She pressed herself against the ceramic, but didn't disappear. Not yet.

“Yeah, know that feelin',” the giant chuckled softly. “I'm scared of 'em too.”

For a brief moment, Ani wasn't sure how to respond. She saw the man give her a concerned look, then cleared his throat. Before he said anything, however, she cut in.

“Thank you!”

He jolted back, wide eyed. “Holy fuck, what?”

She glanced into the ship. She could see Amy's silhouette in the dark, keeping an eye on her. She relaxed and looked back. “Thank you. And, uh. Yeah. We-- I can. Erm.”

Something seemed to click in the man's head. “Yer what Kota saw earlier, aren't ya?”

Ani took a deep breath and nodded. She briefly considered doing her full formal introduction, but finally just went with, “I'm Ani.”

He rubbed his eyes, “Wish he had told me, I wouldn't have been so fuckin' loud.” He looked at her again. “Seán. But everyone calls me Jack.”

“I'm just. Going to.” Ani motioned to her door, terrified.

Jack hesitated. “Er, yeah, and I should. Uh.”

She didn't let him finish, disappearing into the ship and closing the door behind her. She looked over at Amy, fear finally plummeting into her. Amy pulled her into a reassuring hug, and the two girls simply and silently cried until there were no more tears they could shed.


	8. Chapter 8

A buzz woke him up. A very familiar buzz.

Kota jolted awake to see Jack’s green and blue eyeball robot, Sam, hovering near him. He rubbed his eyes to try and get rid of the rest of the exhaustion before a bit of dread snuck into his thoughts. He jolted up, Sam following the motions.

“Play,” he stated clearly.

Sam froze, and his fake pupil expanded to a speaker. Jack’s pre-recorded message played.

“Right, so, don’t panic. But I saw her too? Apparently we got a tiny person with the thing from the pond? I’mma make breakfast.”

Sam’s pupil returned to normal, and it flew out of the room. Kota fell back onto his pillow with a groan. He had a feeling in his gut that this wasn’t going to go well. He racked his brain to figure out where the feeling was coming from. Then it clicked.

He couldn’t have been the only one looking at the sky last night.

Kota scrambled out of bed, changing into a fresh set of clothes, before fumbling his way to the kitchen. Jack was leaning against the stove, staring at the small TV they had set up. The morning newscaster was in the middle of her sentence, an image of a streak against a night sky beside her.

“... looking for it as we speak. Any information on the unidentified object would be greatly appreciated.”

She continued on with news about local break ins, but Kota looked frantically at Jack to confirm his suspicions. Jack just nodded, then motioned towards Ani’s vehicle.

She had opened the front facing window again, though it was too far away for Kota to see much more than that.

“So what do we do?” Kota asked quietly as Jack returned to making pancakes.

“Well, we probably gotta give it over. No one says they need to know who we found inside, though.”

“You’re kidding, right? If they really did come from space, that’s the only thing they have to get back!”

Jack hesitated. “... They?”

Kota dropped his face into his palm. “You didn’t know there’s more then just one, huh?”

Jack scrunched up his face in concern. “No, but given the size of the thing compared to Ani, that. Isn’t surprising. Just means I need to make more pancakes.”

Kota rubbed his face, looking over at the vehicle again. Jack must have called off Fidget, who had returned to its charging station. He wandered over to the table, stopping before sitting down. Beyond the glass of the front of the vehicle, Ani was working with three other people he hadn’t seen yet. A petite woman with blonde hair, and two somewhat well built guys, one who had similar hair and skin tone to Ani, the other being a bit paler, with lighter brown hair.

He sat down to watch. The girls were going through papers and computer screens, while the guys were digging through wires. It was sort of fascinating. All the workings of Kota’s own computer, just miniature. When Ani noticed him watching, she gave him a small salute, then held up a hand for his patience. He hadn’t really intended to stop them, but nodded back all the same.

She grabbed something from one of the consoles, bringing it up to her mouth. She looked back to say something to the lighter haired man, before looking up at Kota. He jumped when a bit of static sounded from the top of the vehicle, followed by Ani’s cheery, suddenly much louder voice.

“Mornin’!”


	9. Chapter 9

Kota reaction drew a small fist pump from the crew. Ani gave Mark a high five before being smothered by her husband’s hug. She let out a warm laugh, thankful that they managed to get something working.

“Comms are up!” she said into the microphone. “Also we heard the news. Figured this would make it easier to figure out a plan.”

“Is that a no to pancakes?” came a call from across the kitchen. When Kota leaned back on his chair to look over his shoulder, Ani saw Jack waving a spatula for attention.

“I want all of the pancakes,” Tom muttered. Ani tried to offer the microphone, but he waved her off. “You’re the comms expert!”

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “Only reason I can do anything on this dumb ship is because you nerds keep it working.”

“Pot, the kettle is calling,” he replied with a grin.

“Never said I wasn’t one,” she laughed, then went back to the microphone. “It has been decided we want all of the pancakes.”

She let the laughter die down a little before going back to the issue at hand. “They’re going to find the ship, we’re all pretty sure about that.” She saw Kota nod, still a little thrown off by his size. “We wanted to test this out just to make sure we had a way to communicate quickly, and the ship’s been dampening your voices enough to keep our ears from bleeding.”

“Oh, good,” Kota responded in relief. “I had wondered.”

“With that in mind, the rest of us think it might be worth it to try and take whatever we can out of the ship before they find you guys. Have anywhere we could set up?”

The two large beings looked at one another.

“Your recording room?” Jack offered.

“You mean where I need to, ya’know, record videos that the entire world can see?”

“Editing, man. And if we did it in mine, we’d have to explain it all to Robin.”

The four crew members exchanged worried glances. Kota seemed to take time to deliberate the idea before dragging his hand over his face. “Alright. We should move it after breakfast, though. This thing is frickin’ heavy.”

“Well, yes. Several gallons of water and a lot of ceramic plating will do that,” Tom joked, drawing a fun little laugh from the group. Ani decided not to pass that one on, however.

“We need to take stock of what’s reasonable to get out,” Amy admitted once they all realized the conversation had died.

“Medicine, obviously,” Tom noted. “Even if everything else has been similar, I don’t think we’ll be able to dose out theirs.”

“The food, if we can manage it,” Mark added. “The more we take out, the less likely it is that whoever ends up with the ship will think people came with it.”

“Meds first.” Ani drummed her fingers on the dashboard. “Then the tools and emergency equipment. The jump drive still has a charge left in it. We might be able to send a message.”

“In which case we need the black box, too. It’ll give us the coordinates to send the rescue ship,” Tom said.

“Do you think--”

“Pancakes!”

The entire crew jumped at Jack’s sudden announcement. They all looked out the window, where a pile of nearly perfectly made pancakes await. It was a mad rush to be there first, the thought of actual food too good to pass up. The pizza had done little to satisfy that craving last night.

It was obvious Jack had tried to make small pancakes for them, but each one was still as half Ani’s sizel. Though, she had to admit that made it even better. She ripped off a piece and took a bite.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if this would turn out to be a blessing in disguise.


	10. Chapter 10

Kota found himself more aware and self conscious about his eating habits as the six dined on pancakes. Between the planning and introductions, he saw unnerved glances from the group at him and Jack whenever they were eating, with the expressions melting away once one of them started talking.

They decided to move the entire ship to his recording room, which took a lot more effort on Kota and Jack's part then he thinks either of them were expecting. Made extra difficult by the four tiny people they now knew about within.

The trip was slow, and by the end of it, Kota was convinced he'd never be able to use his arms again. He sat against the wall ends watched as the small crew set to work. They had set it near his computer, figuring it to be the easiest way to keep them out of sight when he needed to record.

Watching the four work together made him wish he could help, there were a lot of things that required both men to move that he could probably pick up as easily as a toy. But there was no easy way for him to reach any of it without destroying the ship. Which he felt would only raise questions when it eventually got picked up.

As interesting as it was to watch them work, though, Kota quietly excused himself when he noticed the uneasy glances that Amy and Tom kept throwing his way when they were moving things. This would probably take a while to get used to for everyone, but he knew it was much worse for them. So, instead, he wandered his way back to the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the fridge before joining Jack at the now very empty feeling table. The two sat in silence for a bit, Jack drinking his coffee, Kota, his soda. Jack took a side-eye glance towards the recording rooms, then looked at his roommate with barely contained excitement.

“Okay so never around them, but they’re so fuckin’ adorable!”

Kota let his own excitement bubble up, but tried very hard to match Jack’s hushed tone. “They’re so tiny!”

“I think my sisters had dolls that were bigger than them!”

That statement sobered Kota up a little as he considered the implications. “Do you think we’ll be able to find something for them to stay in that isn’t just… A dollhouse, or something?”

Jack’s excitement faded into a thoughtful expression, which melded into worry. “Jesus Christ, I hope so. Accidently scared Ani last night and--”

The look on Jack’s face told Kota everything. He took a deep breath, “She’s fine, though. Enough that trust hasn’t been broken.”

Jack glanced at him and gave a sad smile. “Yeah. Wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been so careless, just happy I got her in time.” He glanced towards the recording rooms again. “Speakin’ of, can I just talk about how fuckin’ weird it was to have her in hand?”

Kota thought about that for a moment. He’d held small animals before, who of course have their own degree of intelligence, but nothing they’d seen from the four in his recording room. Try as he might to imagine what it must feel like, he couldn’t.

“Also she’s scared of heights,” Jack mused.

Kota balked, “What!? They  _ flew _ here! In space!”

Jack shrugged helplessly, “She was panickin’ like I do when she looked down! Maybe she doesn’t notice it in the ship? I can ignore it on planes.”

Kota mulled that over in his head, only to be interrupted when the doorbell rang. Both of them glanced towards the front door, then at each other. Kota got up to answer it. A young woman with a clipboard and cheery smile stood on the other side.

“Hi!” she said in an almost hard to believe happy voice. “I was wondering if you knew anything about the object that fell from space last night!”


	11. Chapter 11

They all froze at the sound.

“Times up,” Tom stated as he moved to set down the tool case he and Mark had carried out of  _ Opportunity _ . Ani ran over her list again.

“Shit, we never got to the food.”

“Though cabinets are locked, though,” Mark noted.

Amy shook her head, “You think they won’t be able to open them?”

“... Unlocking them might be a better option, actually.” Ani looked up with a frown. “It’ll make it seem more like a model then if they were locked.”

“We better do it quick, then,” Tom replied, rushing back into the ship. Ani was quick to follow, fumbling her keys out of her pocket. She heard the door open as they were unlocking all the food stores and were quick to exit once it was done.

With all four safely away from it, she watched, somewhat horrified, as Kota and Jack lifted and left with their only transport off this planet. When they were out of the room, the gravity of the situation finally hit her. She collapsed to the floor, trying to wrap her head around how much strength the two giants had to lift their shuttle like a large toy. A ship that weighed nearly 2000 tons. Carted off like a box of supplies at a grocery store.

Tom sat down beside her and pulled her close.

“Now what?” she asked.

Mark and Amy sat down nearby. No one had an answer.


	12. Chapter 12

Kota wasn’t sure why he was so uneasy as they set the ship down in the back of the woman’s van. But he remembered as the door’s shut.

That was the only way the four inside could go home.

“Er, is everything alright, sir?”

Kota snapped out of his daze, shaking his thoughts before offering a smile, “Yeah! Sorry, it was just really neat. Sad to see it go.”

“Oh, geez, understand that part.” She huffed in thought, rapidly tapping her clipboard with her fingertips. “I could talk to my manager, see if we can send it back once we get to take a closer look at it, but I don’t know how long that would be.”

He tried to remain realistic about the thought, but the excitement bubbled up anyway, “Really? That’d be great!”

She offered a brilliant smile, “I’ll see what I can do! For now, though, I really need to get back.”

Kota simply nodded. When him and Jack offered their goodbyes, the woman set off. They wandered back into the house, though both stopped in the entryway.

“Well. Shit.” Jack rubbed the back of his head, a lost look covering his face.

“We knew it was gunna happen,” Kota pointed out.

“Thought it woulda been a bit later, though.”

He couldn’t argue with that. They had only just heard the news that morning that they were looking for it. The woods were suppose to be pretty large, but then. Scientists always seemed to be able to do the math right.

“Don’t think I’m gunna be recording tonight,” Kota admitted.

“You and me both,” Jack said. Kota heard Fidget and Sam whir to life. The two companion bots wandered over and waited for the rest of the message.

“Don’t wanna go into details,” Kota continued.

“Should be back tomorrow?” Jack finished.

Fidget squeaked and stood straight and still. Sam buzzed and froze mid air. After a moment, they both turned and returned to their resting places, messages posted to the Cyberweb.

“Maybe one of the cabinets.”

Jack’s comment drew Kota’s attention from his own thoughts, a quizzical look on his face. Jack continued.

“Set ‘em up in the walk in pantry. We can leave the light on, ‘s close to the ground, and if they set up under the shelves, we won’t have to worry ‘bout accidentally hurtin’em.”

Kota tucked his hands away in his pockets while he considered that. “Probably could work, if they agree to it. But how do we  _ get _ them there?”

They both fell silent, then let out a helpless sigh in unison.

“Fidget, maybe?” Jack offered.

Kota looked over at his fuzzy companion, still curled up on its charging station. “It’d be better if we can get a thing for them to stand on, honestly. Fidget can’t really keep its body still, but if it’s holding something in its mouth, it’s like a fricking chicken.”

As he considered what he just said, he heard a light snort of laughter from Jack. It wasn’t long before they both got a solid laugh out of the sound of it.

“Frickin’ chicken,” Jack repeated, trying to calm down his laughter.

“Well excuse me for having the family friendly channel!” Kota managed to respond. Once they both calmed down enough, Kota looked back over at Fidget. “Let’s grab some cardboard and see if they like that idea.”


	13. Chapter 13

“It’s not a bad idea,” Ani noted, her voice amplified by the jury-rigged comms system they set up. Her eyes scanned the equipment they were able to salvage. “But some of our gear will probably need to go with us and Fidget. It’s too fragile, and you two haven’t had any practice lifting it.”

She looked back to the two giants sitting a bit away, both of them nodding their agreement.

“So we should try to find something firmer than cardboard, huh?” Kota asked in a quiet tone.

“It’d be appreciated. We’ll figure out what goes with who in the meantime.”

Mark rubbed the back of his head while Kota and Jack got up to go hunting. “Comms system, definitely. It’s barely held together as is, and they wouldn’t know where it’s weakest.”

“The medicine box as well,” Amy noted. “No need for an accident to break anything in there. We’re lucky as much survived the crash as it did.”

“Beds are an easy with them, though. Things are too bulky for us to move very far,” Tom concluded. The four began moving what they wanted to bring with them away from the main pile.

Ani felt the creeping dread return as the silence between everyone lingered. The desk that towered over them, the far off sounds of thunder she knew was just someone walking. She bit back the tears for the countless time that day.

Tom didn't hesitate to pull her into a hug, muttering quiet reassurance. The rumble of his chest helped calm her down, the warmth of his arms helping her relax. He gently sat them down, and her tears began anew. By the time she could finally control herself, Mark and Amy had joined the hug, and they all sat there silently, happy they weren't alone.

The ground began to shake, the thunder of steps getting closer, and they all stood, taking another quick glance around. Ani wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed the comm mic once Kota opened the door.

“We're good,” she called out.

He held up a (to him) small metal sheet with a questioning expression. Ani gave an exaggerated nod and set about helping the others move their equipment into it.

“Okay, so…” Amy glanced over to the boys as the girls set down the comms system. “I'm. Not the only one  _ excited _ about a few things as well as terrified. Right?” She have Ani a hopeful look.

Ani felt heat rise in her face. “No, but probably different reasons.”

“ _ We're meeting aliens! _ ” Amy whispered, eyes bright.

Ani glanced at the boys, then back at Amy. For the first time since they crashed, she felt her excitement bubble in her chest. “Okay last night was terrifying when it happened, but holy shit, it was so  _ weird, _ but really  _ awesome _ to be in Jack's hand like that!”

“Their tech is so cool! Sam  _ floats,  _ and near as i can tell, it's without any jet power! There's no residual heat!”

“Fidget looks like its fur is basically real!”

“What are you two whispering about?”

Both of them yelped in surprise at Mark's sudden question. They looked between each other and him before Amy responded with “Lady stuff.”

“Gross,” Tom replied, almost automatically without any real disgust.

“Right?” Ani laughed. “That all of it?”

“That's all of it.”

They all found as comfortable seating as they could, then waited. Fidget took position on the edge closest to them, its mouth opening to clamp down on the metal. Ani found it oddly reassuring that the mechanical panda didn't have any teeth, simply ribbed plates for gripping things. It lifted them off the ground, though not much farther then Kota's shins, and began its trek through the house.


	14. Chapter 14

Kota found himself amused that all the tiny crew had him to carry were papers and beds, but then, he could basically feel how easy it would have been for him to break, or at least bend, the metal. As he considered that, his mind ambled to what that meant in regards to how the four would have survived elsewise.

That thought made him nauseous, and he was suddenly very happy they had landed in his and Jack's yard, rather than someone else's. What if they landed by someone with a god complex? Or someone who took sadistic pleasure in---

Kota shook his thoughts. What ifs were just ways to distract you from reality. They had landed with him, and they were safe. That's what mattered.

He set the beds down. The small beings were already setting things up in the corner. Jack had already gone to grab the rest of their things, so Kota took a seat to talk.

“Anything else you need?”

“Unless you have very tiny toilets, kitty litter.” Ani hesitated. “Uh, you have domesticated cats, right?”

“Er.” Kota glanced at Fidget. “Technically, yes? They're pretty exotic, though. Most people just get a companion robot and leave taking care of other living beings to specialists.”

All of them got varying degrees of sympathetic sadness on their faces.

“Not even dogs?!” Mark asked.

“You realize a golden retriever would be the size of an apartment complex, right?” Ani responded.

“HOW IS THAT A BAD THING?!”

“ANYWAY,” Ani continued, cutting off the very conversation she had just participated in. “Basically we should use some sort of water supply, as well as privacy for, uh. Bio breaks.”

“And kitty litter helps with that?” Kota asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“Does back in our planet, anyway,” Tom confirmed. “We make shit boxes for them. Ani figured we could make one in lu of an actual toilet.”

“Thank you, dear,” Ani stated in a dry tone.

“What makes that so special compared to anything else?

“Traps the smell,” Ani said.

“Oh! I can see how that'd help. But you guys make it sound like they're pretty common?”

The group nodded.

“Cats and dogs are pretty much staples of our homes.”

Mark said something that Kota didn't catch, then Amy gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“I can look for something similar, but don't know specifically about that. What else?”

“Hot water for baths,” Ani replied, desperation in her voice.

Kota grinned, “That one should be pretty easy to do.”

Ani glanced back at the others her size, then back up at Kota. He blinked, a bit expectant. She looked like she was trying to build herself up to something.

“Everything okay?”

“We have also decided it would be in everyone's best interest to get used to getting held - or in your and Jack's case, holding us.”

Kota stared at her for a long moment, his mind taking its sweet time comprehending that statement.

“Wait,  _ what _ ?”

“What what?”

Jack poked his head into the pantry, the boxes of tiny papers in hand.

“We should all get used to interacting,” Ani rephrased. “This world is not safe for the four of us, and if last night proved anything, it's that, as much as we might not like it, we kind of need to rely on you here.”

“So,” Mark continued, “It'd be better for all of us to get used to physical contact in calmer, controlled environments.”

Kota exchanged an uneasy look with Jack. He understood the logic, but it was still a little nerve wracking. Especially considering previous thoughts--

He shook away the train of thought. “Alright.”

“Hand please!”

Kota balked, “Wait,  _ now? _ ”

Ani stared expectantly at him, though he could just make out the small quiver in her shoulders.

“... Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said firmly.

_ … She doesn't want to lose her nerve. _

With a small sigh, Kota placed his hand on the floor, palm up. She walked up and placed a hand on his finger tip.

His heart skipped a beat. He could feel her individual fingers as they tensed to keep her steady. He had to focus to keep from twitching as her feet wandered across his hand. The treads on her boots were surprisingly deep. She plopped down in the center of his palm, sitting cross legged. On pure instinct, he lifted her from the floor, bringing her closer to his face. It was a fascinating sight. He could just make out the hue shift from her dark brown irises to her pupils. He finally clearly saw the beauty mark that sat on the left side of her jaw. He found himself only able to let out a single, airy word.

“Whoa.”


	15. Chapter 15

Ani carefully placed her hand on Kota's finger tip, trying hard not to be distracted by the pattern of his finger prints. She lifted herself onto his palm, heart pounding as she made her way to the center. The heat was pleasant, yet almost overwhelming. She had barely sat down when he began to lift her from the floor. Her insides plummeted, heart racing as the adrenaline kicked in. Like a roller coaster, without slowing on its ascent. It was exhilarating, and she knew she could keep the feeling if she didn't look down.

Kota held her at eye level, far closer then she had been to either of them yet. His eyes flicked around to look at her, but she found herself transfixed by his iris.

She'd always known they weren't truly smooth, or solid colors, but seeing the mixture of blues, yellows, and oranges, swirling around the black of the center, where crevices and lines seemed to have depth she could never witness alone before, left her speechless.

“Whoa.”

Kota's breath of a reply broke her trance, and she shook her thoughts away. Before she could open her eyes again, she felt Kota shift his hand a bit away from himself. She let out a nervous laugh, running a hand through her hair.

“Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to, huh?”

“No kidding,” Kota replied with his own. “Guess this is a decent start, though.”

She shifted, trying to stand up. Kota tensed, his other hand appearing in her view, but she waved him off. His hand was easier to stand on then she thought it would have been, giving way like sand rather then an uneven step like a trampoline. Once she steadied herself, she didn’t have to keep her thoughts on balance. Once confident, she stood proudly and looked up at Kota.

Who had bit his lower lip, and Ani began to notice the twitches in his fingers behind her.

“... You’re ticklish aren’t you?” Ani asked. The reply came from far below her rather then the man in front of her.

“SO ARE YOU!”

She turned arms spread wide as she yelled back at Tom, “Don’t tell--”

Her heart started to pound in her throat, chest tightening. Her breath hitched and she stumbled back, away from the drop just a few steps away.

“Shit--!”

The moment the curse left Kota’s mouth was the same moment she bumped into his other palm. Her stomach jolted as he quickly, yet carefully, lowered her to the ground.

Tom was by her side almost instantly. “Fuck, are you alright?”

She managed to take a deep breath and nod. “Just looked down after telling myself not to.” She leaned against him with a sigh. “Not your fault.”

She looked up at Kota while he rubbed the palm she had been standing on with his other thumb. He avoided looking at them.

“Jack’s turn, if we’re continuing this,” he muttered.

Ani wasn’t really surprised when Amy offered to go next. Rather than sitting as Ani had, the blonde stood on the crease of Jack’s palm, where the bottom of his fingers started. She seemed much more intrigued by his fingerprints then anything else going on around her.

Mark and Tom didn’t seem to enjoy it one bit, though Ani assumed for different reasons. Mark seemed uneasy at the climb, while she knew Tom hated someone else in control of where he was going. Though both agreed afterwards it would just take them time to get used to.

“It’s a roller coaster,” Ani tried to assure her husband once he jumped off Kota’s hand. Tom gave her a flat look.

“I love you, but it is nothing like a roller coaster.”

She pouted. “Well, I thought it kind of was. Made it easier to handle, in any case.”

Jack and Kota excused themselves once everyone confirmed they were done for the day, leaving the four to set up their small, temporary home. The two had already brought a few things over to help make things easy, such as tea candles, matches, and their own supply of water.

When they had set up to eat, a bit of water and some of the food from the pantry itself, Amy finally let her excitement spill.

“Horizontal fingerprints!”

The other three gave her quizzical looks, though Ani had some idea what she was talking about.

Amy lifted her fingers, wiggling them in the air. “So I was looking at Jack’s fingers, and you know how most human fingerprints are spirals? I think theirs are horizontal, like rings around their fingers.”

Ani paused, thinking back to Kota’s hand. “I… Think you’re right, actually. I didn’t really think of it then, but his fingertip did feel kinda odd.”

“And creases like our lifelines on our palms don’t seem as prevalent. They’re there, but even at our size, it was sort of hard to tell where they are.”

Mark’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t make any sense, though, those creases are where our hands fold, and theirs move just like them.

Amy pinched the side of her hand, drawing attention to the thickness. “I don’t think they have as much padding beneath.”

“Ya’know, I might have kind of forgotten you were the Bio expert.”

Tom’s comment got a grin in response.

* * *

 

Ani hopped off Kota’s hand to the table, stretching.

“It is  _ so _ much easier to deal with if I just don’t look down.”

“After yesterday, I was kind of wondering if this would work, but it’s not all that bad if you are just sitting there.”

Ani looked over her shoulder to him, tucking her hands into her pockets to keep them from fidgeting. “Sorry about that.”

He shook his head, “You didn’t know, and hey, we improved!”

Ani looked out over their dining room. It was still a lot to take in. The far wall looked miles away, but Kota had just made the trip in barely five steps. The crew was still trying to figure out how to work the jumpdrive to send a distress call to Earth, which had certainly provided a welcome distraction for the boys, but her and Amy had needed something else.

Amy had gone about making improvements to their small living space under the shelves. Ani had decided to try taking a bit more of a tour of the house.

After the brief ride to the table, however, she was wondering if she really wanted that.

“You okay?”

Kota’s soft question made her jump, and she slumped in defeat afterwards.

“No, but I probably won’t be for a while.”

There was a tense silence for a minute.

“Well, I’m here if you want to vent about it.”

She let out a soft laugh and gave him a sad smile. “Yeah, I might do that. For now, I think I just need to--”

“HEY NERDS!”

Ani’s sentence and subsequent yelp were drowned out by a new voice’s bombastic entrance. Kota went rigid. She saw an apology race across his face before his hand swept her off the table, and everything went dark.


	16. Chapter 16

Arin’s bombastic entrance threw Kota’s mind into overdrive. He had forgotten it was Saturday.

He stared down at Ani, the small yelp that had punctuated her sentence thankfully drowned out. He couldn’t quite form the words of apology before he scooped her up and deposited her into the breast pocket of his flannel.

“Arin! Frick, I totally forgot,” he called back, turning around to face the older man.

“Uh, yeah, you and Jack both? Suzy’s waiting on us all to start recording.”

“FUCK, IT’S SATURDAY!”

Kota winced at Jack’s yell from across the house. “I should… probably go change.”

“Dude, you look fine.” Arin grabbed his arm and started pushing him out of his own house. “I’ll get the leprechaun and catch up.”

Kota managed to catch himself on the porch, heart pounding a little as he felt Ani squirm to right herself in his pocket. He looked down just in time to see her head poke out. After a moment of taking in her surroundings, she looked up at him and threw her arm forward, motioning for him to keep going.

“You sure?”

Her motions got more frantic for a moment before she ducked back out of sight.

“Moooooooove.”

Kota let out a befuzzled yell as Arin shoved him off the porch. He managed to catch himself, then Arin and Jack fell into step beside him. He shot Jack a worried glance, though he roommate was too distracted by still trying to wake up.

He just hoped nothing too terrible would happen.


	17. Chapter 17

Ani waited until they started to converse before attempting to look outside the pocket again. Kota had buttoned it closed, but it was still fairly simple for her to look out the side of it. The weirdest part was realizing that all three were still walking. While she supposed it wasn’t too terrible a choice, she could have sworn she heard either of them mention how far town was when reviewing what everyone needed.

She pulled down the fabric of the pocket to look down.

Moving sidewalks. Like ones she’d see at an airport terminal.

Did they not have cars?

She considered how fresh the air had smelled when they got outside. Before, she thought it was because of the distance from the city, but back on Earth, even some of the more remote places were having pollution issues.

She sunk back down into the pocket, mulling over the thought. The steady rhythm of Kota’s pace threatened to send her to sleep, and she didn’t really consider how little she had gotten recently until that moment. Without much else to do, she shifted to her side, curled up, and closed her eyes.

* * *

 

“There you guys are!”

The yell snapped Ani awake, her heart pounding. She stayed still, trying to remember what had happened.

The fabric ahead of her, lit up from beyond, reminded her of her predicament.

“We’re here!” came Kota’s cheery reply. Her heart pounded in her throat for a moment as she tried to convince herself he hadn’t forgotten. Then a shadow came over her small space.

Ani braced herself, arms near her head, as she was pressed tight between the two sides of the pocket, in what she could only imagine was a hug beyond it. She let out a small gasp when the pressure released and quickly started pounding against the inside of the pocket. She felt Kota jerk a little.

“But! Before we start,” she heard him say confidently, “I need to pee!”


	18. Chapter 18

Kota pressed himself against the door, locked it, then slid to sit on the floor.

“Friiiiiick, I’m so sorry.”

He ran a hand through his hair, unbuttoning the pocket on his flannel. Before he could pull away, however, Ani’s arm shot out and grabbed his finger. It strained to pull her up, so he reached in to let her climb out. She clambered onto his palm, sitting down in a huff.

“It’s fine,” she replied, trying to smooth out her ponytail. “It’s not exactly a normal circumstance.”

“I shouldn’t have forgotten, though!”

“Dude.” She gave him a hard stare, which he discovered was weirdly effective despite her size. “I fell asleep, you just spent however long travelling and talking--”

“An hour,” he noted in a mutter.

She took a moment to process that. “An hour of not needing to worry about me. You. Are. Fine.”

They stared at each other for a moment before he admitted, “Okay, but I really do need to go to the bathroom.”

She frowned. “Yeah, I actually do too.” She looked out over the restroom. “Think you can put me behind the trash can?”

“This is going to be really weird.”

“Everything about this situation is really weird.”

* * *

 

Kota looked back at the trash can once his hands were dry. A moment later, he saw Ani walk around, her hands awkwardly in the air in front of her. He dampened another paper towel, then went over to crouch in front of her.

“Need a rinse?”

She hopped up to grab the towel, part of it ripping away with her, and she quickly rubbed her hands down with it.

“Thank you. God I hope they aren’t too worried about me…”

Kota furrowed his brow. He hadn’t considered how the others her size would be reacting to Jack and him being pushed out of their own house, let alone Ani’s sudden disappearance. He sat down and pulled out his PDA, flicking over to Fidget’s Cybernet system.

“... Uh, Kota?”

He looked down at her, her face a mix of confusion and curiosity at whatever he was doing.

“Fidget might be able to give ‘em a message so they don’t have to keep worrying.”

“From here?”

He nodded, opening up a new voice file. “It’ll take a few minutes, but we can send a voice recording over there for them to listen to. Might be better if you record it though.” He set the PDA down against the trash can so she could interact with it. Her hand hovered over the record button.

“How long are we going to be here?”

That made Kota hesitate. The answer was anywhere from an hour to three.

“A while,” he finally decided. Ani looked a tad unnerved by that answer, but hit record anyway.

“I’m fine, currently with Kota. We’re not sure when we’ll be back. I’m out of sight.”

She stopped the recording there, and Kota picked it up again to send it. Once done, he turned off the device and tucked it away in his pocket again.

“Well, sooner we head out the sooner we get home,” he noted, offering a hand to her again.

She climbed up, not quite sitting down. He brought her back up to his pocket, and she hopped in. Once he was sure she was secure, he stood up with a stretch and headed out.


End file.
